Pretty and Purposeful

Sorry I missed last week's posting.  (Life and all.)  There have been strange things happening in the garden.  Morning glory sprouting up in the middle of the lawn...maple tree sprouts ev.ry.where...green beans dying on the bush...hosta flowers tall as me....  I haven't had my camera with me when these things have needed immediate tending, but I may keep it more handy.

This week I am pleased to report that I've seen monarchs returning!  Ten years ago the bushes below were covered in monarchs.  Then they dropped off quickly (as they did everywhere) over the next few years, and have been MIA for several years.  But this year I've spotted about four or five, and I'm so happy!

These pics were snapped around 8 pm, so the sun had moved, and the butterflies were resting for the evening.  When I see the flyers, I'm usually doing five other things, and this was the first opportunity I had to get out there, unfortunately.  I don't know what these are called (I'm sure some of you will let me know).  We were fortunate to retain a landscape plan, but these particular plants aren't labelled.  They get quite tall, and need to be cut back each year.  I stood on my tiptoes (and I'm 5'6") to take the one above.  Here's a closeup.

I was told by the former owner that these, and the plants surrounding them, were planted to attract flying insects for the purple martins.  Indeed, there were several bumble bees, dragonflies, and other things buzzing around me.

There's never a dull moment in our yard.  Seems something is always in bloom until the first hard frost.  Oh!  And my tomatoes are just now starting to show some color!  They're still very small, and there are only five of them.  I picked a green onion wannabe just to see, and it was a pitiful imposter. 

What's in your garden?

Share your garden pics and enjoy the others at  Garden Tuesday, and Garden Party and Bloomin' Tuesday.